Organizing Reaches New Heights

You asked for it, and here it comes. When AFSCME delegates to the 2000 Convention decided to increase the level of organizing, they also resolved to hold the union’s Organizing Convention. The stage is set in Los Angeles for an event that will be held Sept. 7 to 9.

As thousands of AFSCME activists converge on the "City of Angels," it will be a day that signals a change for working relationships between employees and employers. California is a symbol of the International’s accelerated organizing momentum in areas where unions long sat on the back burner.

Union activists plan to demonstrate at L.A. city hall in behalf of rec and park workers. It’s time for a change, and change starts now; the days of silence in the workplace are a thing of the past, so stand up and demand fairness.

WHAT’S IN STORE. The convention will address four pillars that have supported AFSCME’s organizing objectives:

• POLITICAL POWER — Activists are lobbying local and state lawmakers to pass collective bargaining laws that give workers the right to choose a union. When needed, members have "nudged" politicians into action because an employer is dragging his or her feet on reaching a just agreement.
• VOLUNTEER POWER — Using a training program, AFSCME has maximized its organizing potential by tapping into the spirit of members who want to bring others the fruits of union representation. These unionists dedicate some of their free time to go door to door to enroll new members.
• BARGAINGING POWER — Organizing power increases when employers agree to recognize — through neutrality and card checks, for example — the employees’ desire to form a union.
• RESOURCES — At the 2000 Convention, delegates passed a resolution asking that councils dedicate 30 percent of their budgets to organizing.

Plenary discussions will be held to increase awareness of the union’s position and activities in those four areas. Workshops and panel discussions on other organizing topics also will take place.

FROM ACORN TO OAK. Several councils and affiliates have had full-time organizing programs for years. Recently, other units have accepted the challenge of growing the union, and using that commitment as a springboard, they are targeting scores of unor-ganized public employees and workers in private industries.

The Organizing Convention will bring together the full range of experienced and fledgling organizing groups so that they can help refine the directions the union will be taking to strengthen the members’ power base. Much work remains to be done far into the future. But AFSCME, its affiliates and its members are laying groundwork that will move the union forward.

AFSCME’s Department of Organizing and Field Services welcomes today’s difference makers to Los Angeles.